Dictating machine



y 1938. 'r. H. BEARD ET AL 2,117,236

DICTATING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Theodore ILfiearol John iE.Renh0Z0l19 Char s H.Merriii,lll

ATTORNEYS May 10, 1938. T. H. BEARD ET AL DICTATING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQRS Theodore HBem'd John EfifienholoM Chai ges H.

ATTORNEYS May 10, 1938. T. H. BEARD ET AL 2,117,236

DICTATING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1933 5 Sheets-Shet :5

- INVENTORS Theodore H. Beard John .E.Rn/1olp1i* Charles H. MTI'LiZ HI ATTORNEYS Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DICTATING MACHINE Application June 24, 1933', Serial No. 677,448

4 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in dictating machines and more particularly to the start-and-stop control mechanism. One of the objects thereof is to provide simple and emcient means for establishing a driving connection between a Bowden-wire control and the clutch mechanism of the machine. A further object is to provide a driving connection of the nature described that will render the wire less liable to breakage and which will facilitate the use of a Bowden-wire control of the nature described on a machine whereof the entire operating parts are covered or partially covered by a hood.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a covered dictating machine embodying the present invention, looked at from the front lefthand corner;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the machine showing the carriage in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the lefthand end of the machine as shown in Fig. 1, with the cover broken away and parts of the clutch-actuating mechanism shown in broken lines;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing parts of the startand-stop control mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the large left section of the hood which partially covers the machine; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the small righthand section which completes the hood.

Referring to the drawings, a dictating machine is shown "wherein the sound-box is adapted to be conditioned for recording, reproducing, or to be in neutral, and comprises a base plate l2 hinged upon and supported by a boxlike sub-base 5 adapted to enclose certain parts of the machine some of which may be supported upon the box itself while others depend from the underside of the base plate. This is the usual construction of a well-known type of dictation machine so further reference will not be made to the parts included within the sub-base except in so far as they relate to the present invention.

Rising from the left end of the base plate I2 is a leithand standard I! and from the right end of the base plate is a righthand standard l4. A housing I! formed on the left end of the base plate adjacent the standard [3 provides a suitable bearing for a. mandrel shaft it which supports a mandrel l! at its right or outer end. Upon this mandrel a record-cylinder may be mounted. On the opposite end of the mandrel shaft I6 is loosely mounted a driving pulley l9 which is driven by a belt 6 from the shaft of an electric motor or other prime mover which, while not shown herein, may be preferably supported from the underside of the base plate l2 occupying a position within the sub-base 5. A sound-box carriage 2| is mounted for travel longitudinally of the mandrel upon an upper car'- riage rod 22 and a lower carriage rod 23 forming part of the frame and extending between the said standards l3 and i4.

It will be understood, of course, that when the machine is in operation the mandrel will have to rotate and the carriage will have to move longitudinally with respect thereto in order that the stylus may cut its groove or follow its groove in the manner usual to this type of machine. It is therefore necessary to provide a clutch mechanism whereby mandrel rotation and carriage feed may be started and stopped at will in order not needlessly to use up record space when the operator stops dictating for any reason. As more clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the clutch mechanism comprises a toothed member 43 forming a hub for the driving pulley l9 running loosely upon the mandrel shaft IS. A single tooth clutch disk M may be thrown into or out of driving engagement with the member 43 by means of a rod 45 which extends interiorly of the mandrel shaft to a point where it is secured to a clutch collar 46 by means of a pin 41. A clutch-operating yoke 48 pivotally mounted on a stud 49 is provided with lugs 50' which fit within a groove SI of the collar. This construction is per se well known in the art. For a better understanding of its more general features reference may be had to the disclosure of United States Patent No. 1,203,088.

A spring 52 (see Fig. 3) is connected to the lower part of the clutch-shifting yoke 48 and extends to a pin 53 on the underside of the base 50 plate l2 and serves to hold the yoke in a position normally to hold the related clutch parts out of mutual engagement and thereby permit free running of the driving pulley. The clutch yoke is moved to mutually engage the clutch parts by 55 means of a Bowden-wire 54 which as heretofore employed was secured at one end'at the back of the housing l5 and extended to a handle portion 56 of a speaking tube 51 where it was operated by means of a button 68. At its mouthpiece end the inner member of the Bowden-wire is held immovable in relation to the mouthpiece handle, the outer member being movably mounted relatively thereto and adapted to receive an impulse from the button 58. The arrangement is similar to that described in the above-mentioned Patent No. 1,203,088, with the improvements disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,620,230. In the present construction shown herein the Bowdenwire 54 extends from the push button 58 on the mouthpiece handle through substantially the length of the speaking tube interiorly thereof and after passing loosely through the carriage the outer member of the Bowden-wire is received within a socket member 81 having adjustably threaded engagement with a threadedopening in a bracket member 88 secured tothe back of the housing i5 by means of a bolt 89 which takes into a threaded lug 90 formed upon. the back of the housing (see Figs. 3 and 4). The adjustment of the socket member 81 with the bracket 88 is maintained by means of a lock-nut 9i. Pivoted at 92 on bracket 88 is a bell crank lever 93 pivotally connected at one end as at 94 with the inner member 54', of the Bowden-wire. The other arm of the bell crank lever 93-is provided at its'outer end with an adjustable stud 95 adapted to be locked in any position by lock-nut 98. A spring 91 secured to this arm of the bell crank lever 93 and to a lug 98 provided on bracket 88 tends to swing the lever 93 in a counter-clockwise direction. A movement in this direction is, however, limited by contact between the bell crank lever arm with a lug 99 formed on bracket 88.

For a better understanding of the operation of the Bowden-wire, reference is made to Patent No. 1,203,088, mentioned above. In that patent the inner member of the Bowden-wire was held immovable at both ends and the outer member was mounted so as to be freely movable with respect to the inner member at both ends of the wire. Hence, when movement was imparted to the outer member at the impulse-receiving end of the wire, motion was transmitted by said outer member in the same direction at the impulse-giving end of the wire. The present arrangement is slightly different. At the impulse-receiving end of the wire the inner member is held immovable as before, the outer member being movable to receive the impulse of the thumb button 58. At the impulse-giving end of the Bowden-wire the arrangement is different from that of the patent in that with the present arrangement the end of the outer member is held immovable by the socket member 81. Hence it follows from the known characteristics of the Bowden wire that a push imparted to the outer member at its impulse-receiving end will cause movement of the freely movable end of the inner member in the opposite direction, whereby the end of said inner member at 94 will be drawn toward the socket member 81. This action of the elements of a Bowden-wire is so well known that demonstration is unnecessary. This action'results in oscillation of bell crank lever 93 in a clockwise direction against the tension of spring 91. The adjustment stud 95 engages a plunger 59 which is slidably mounted in a passageway formed in the hollow bolt 89. When the plunger 58 is forced inwardly with respect to the housing, it engages a bell crank lever (see Fig. 2) pivotally mounted as at II within the said housing. The other arm of the bell crank lever 00 engages a shelf 62 formed on an arm 63,'of the clutch-shifting yoke lever. This engagement causes the arm II to move downwardly and shift the clutch yoke about its pivot 49 so as to shift the collar 46 and bring the clutch parts into engagement. This produces rotation of the mandrel and of the feedscrew 38. Thus by means of the operators thumb engaging the button 58 the clutch is actuated and the machine is set in operation and upon release of the button is rendered inoperative. With the clutch parts in engagement the rotating driving pulley turns the mandrel l1 and also the recordcylinder supported thereon, and as stated above extends the motion to the feed-screw 39 causing it to move the carriage relatively with respect to the record-cylinder. This occurs, of course, only when the sound-box control is in either recording or reproducing position, for when the central is in neutral position the feed-nut will be disengaged from the feed-screw ne movement of the same will follow.

connection of the fiowden wire with bracket as and lever 93 makes it the carriage to move back and fcrtl Efrem ene of the machine to the other without producing any sharp bends in the Bowden-wire, thus greatly prolonging the life of the wire. Also. it should be noted that a double adjustment provided. one between the outer member of the Bowden wire and the bracket, and the other between the adjustment stud 95 and the plunger This double adjustment makes it possible to so adjust the Bowden-wire in relation to the cluteh-ae3uating yoke and clutch parts as te a response of the clutch parts when the push button is actuated. When the push button is released thespring 9! tends to restore the Bewdenwire to its unactuatecl position and the spring 52 of the clutch yoke moving the clutch yoke back to its original position causes return of the bell crank lever 60 and plunger as to their unoperated positions whereby the plunger 59 always remains in engagement with the adjustment screw 0%.

It will thus be seen that this construction provides a greatly improved start-and-stop control which is very sensitive in action and of great durability. This arrangement further makes it possible for the Bowden-wire after it passes through the back of the carriage to lie wholly within the cover hereinbefore mentioned without it being necessary to sharply bend the Bowden-wire.

The cover or hood hereinbefore referred to is of very simple construction and may be fitted to any machine of the type disclosed having right and left standards l4' and I 3. The cover, indicated generally by the reference numeral I60 (see Figs. 1, 5 and 6) comprises a large section It! and a small section I62. Section tel maybe slipped over the machine from the left end as viewed from the front, when its end plate J will be slightly spaced outside of the pulley l9 while the hub 43 of the pulley extends beyond the end wall of the cover through an opening I84 provided therein for that purpose. The cover has a long upper portion I65 which overlies the upper carriage rod 22 and standards l3 and i4. Rearwardly of the cover section I6! is a downwardly extending section I66 which completely encloses the rear of the machine, extending down substantially into engagement with the upper side of base plate l2. The front of the cover comprises a portion I81 extending in front of and over the housing l and a short section I" connecting the portion I61 with the top section iii. The cover also has a shallow flange I" extending rearwardly from the right edge of the section I61 so as to enclose the right side of the housing i5 forwardly of and above the mandrel shaft It.

The short section of the cover I6! is formed as shown in Fig. 6 and is made simply to slide over the right-hand standard of the machine beneath the edge of the section lil and is provided with slots as at I10 and Ill adapted to register with the perforations I12, I13 formed in the cover section ISI adjacent the right end thereof. These holes are provided to receive screws I'll which pass through the cover and tap into the standard ll as indicated. The left end of the cover section I6! is secured to the left-hand standard I3 by means of similar screws I14 which take through other openings I12 disposed adjacent the left end of the cover section.

It will be seen that this cover is very simple and can be installed or removed without the use of other tools than a screwdriver and without disturbing or removing any parts of the machine. This result is readily effected since the sound-box control mechanism used offers no upstanding parts to interfere therewith. The opening I15 is provided near the base at the front of the cover to allow clearance for operation of the auxiliary clutch control lever i'li common to machines of this type.

It will be seen that there is provided a construction of an essentially practical nature in which the several objects of this invention are attained.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. In a dictating machine, a frame, clutchoperating means mounted on said frame, a Bowden-wire for actuating said operating means, a bracket rigidly secured to said frame, a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said bracket, means pivotally connecting one end of the inner element of said Bowden-wire with one arm of said lever, adjustable means on the other arm of said lever for making operative contact with said clutch-operating means, and adjustable means for anchoring the corresponding end of the outer element of said Bowden-wire to said bracket.

2. In a dictating machine, a frame, clutchoperating means mounted on said frame, a Bowden-wire for actuating said operating means, a bracket rigidly secured to said frame, a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said bracket, means pivotally connecting one end of the inner element of said Bowden-wire with one arm of said lever, adjustable means on the other arm of said lever for making operative contact with said clutch-operating means, adjustable means for anchoring the corresponding end of the outer element of said Bowden-wire to said bracket, and resilient means for producing relative movement of the elements of said Bowden-wire to nonactuated position.

3. In a dictating machine, a frame, clutchoperating means mounted on said frame, a Bowden-wire for actuating said operating means, a bracket rigidly secured to said frame, a lever pivotally mounted on said bracket, means pivotally connecting an end of the inner element of said Bowden-wire with one arm of said lever, adjustable means on the other arm of said lever for making operative contact with said clutchoperating means, and means for anchoring the corresponding end of the outer element of said Bowden-wire to said bracket.

4. In a dictating machine, a frame, clutchoperating means mounted on said frame, a Bowden-wire for actuating said operating means, a bracket rigidly secured to said frame, a lever pivotally mounted on said bracket, means for pivotally connecting an end of the inner element of said Bowden-wire with one arm of said lever, means on the other arm of said lever for making operative contact with said clutch-operating means, and adjustable means for anchoring the corresponding end of the outer element of said Bowden-wire to said bracket.

THEODORE H. BEARD. JOHN E. RENHOLDT. CHARLES H. MERRIT'I', III. 

